ALEX EALA — JIMMIE48/WTA

ALEX EALA is officially the first ever Filipina player to barge into the world’s elite Top 100 rankings.

Ms. Eala jumped from No. 140 to now No. 75 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) list after a historic Cinderella run in the Miami Open.

The 19-year-old Filipina sensation leaped 65 rungs, jacking up her total points of 524 before the tournament to now 894 as among the sports’ top guns.

Her previous career-high was at No. 134 after a semifinal finish in Workday Canberra International in Australia. Ms. Eala started at No. 1180 in 2020 when she debuted at the pro level after reaching as high as No. 2 in the world junior rankings.

But more than that, Ms. Eala’s entry to the Top 100 formally clears the path to her long-time dream of becoming the first Filipina player in the main draw of any Grand Slam tournament.

Only the Top 100 players from the women’s pro circuit get to have direct invites to the main draws of majors like the US Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.

Ms. Eala only managed to play in the qualifying rounds of the said majors as a wildcard in the past, having advanced to the finals of the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon but to no avail.

The closest Slam for Ms. Eala is the Roland Garros on May 25 to June 8 in Paris, France.

The lefty wunderkind did it after a herculean semifinal finish in the Miami Open, a WTA 1000 masters just below the ranks of Grand Slam events.

There, she became the first Filipina player to beat three Grand Slam champions, two Top-5 players and the first WTA 1000 semifinalist.

Overall, she’s only the second wildcard to defeat three or more Grand Slam champions in a single tour-level event after Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) at the Wimbledon 2023 as well as the third wildcard semifinalist after Justine Henin (Belgium) in 2010 and Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) in 2018. — John Bryan Ulanday